This morning, I was wondering about the social connections of teenagers today. Every day, adolescents spend hours on their computers, and amid doing other things (like homework, watching videos on YouTube, googling Hugh Laurie, listening to music on iTunes, and... wow I can think of hundreds of more things), they chat with their friends. Is instant messaging (and the Internet in general) hurting the social skills of today's youth? And what about cell phones? They aren't really used for talking anymore, but text messaging. Has the information generation become anti-social?
I think not. Fifty years ago, kids were pushed out of the house and told not to return until dinner time. Now? If I don't call home to say that I'll be home twenty minutes late from school, I get yelled at. Of course I think this is a little ridiculous being as I stay after every single day. So I either have to give my exact location every step I take, or just stay home. For my parents, me staying home is easier; they know the farthest I'll go is from the computer to the bathroom, maybe make my way to the fridge and curl up in front of the tv. But if I'm going to my friends house, who knows where else I might go?
So if going out is no longer totally supported by parents, how else can I spend time with my friends? iChat. And if I'm not at the computer, I can update my friends with my news and whereabouts quickly with a text. Maybe ask ten people at once if they're free Friday night. And no awkward conversations when all you want to say is "I have work tomorrow at 4." Maybe the conversations are awkard because with this technology, we no longer have the skills to make conversation interesting. I believe this, too, is untrue. I can always find something to talk about with my friends.
I just believe that times have changed, and my generation has just had to adapt to it. We haven't grown farther apart, but are attempting to come closer together.
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